My Little Eye [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Amazon.co.uk Review

My Little Eye comes from the same school as Series 7: The Contenders and The Blair Witch Project, attempting to play on our fears by using the medium of film itself. The difference here is this film's willingness to use striking camera angles, editing and "night view" cameras that take the idea of Big Brother onto pay-per-view internet where no-one is around to hear you scream.

Locked away in a deserted house, six "contestants" (or stereotypes) are adhering to curfews and confinement in a bid to win money: unlike Big Brother, though, the twist here is that no-one gets evicted, they all have to stay to win. To begin with the "company" looks after them, delivering food and warmth, however towards the end of their six-month stay weird things begin to happen. Rex, the most clued-up of the contestants, despite his alleged mental imbalance, surmises that the "company" are trying to scare them out of the prize money, but as time goes on and a mystery visitor mysteriously disappears it becomes clear that things are about to become very brutal in a bid to please their pay-per-view audience.

Although the reality-film premise may be wearing a little thin by now, director Marc Evans still manages to pull a few surprises out of the bag, particularly at the macabre ending, which subverts all rules of the horror genre and will leave the audience trembling because maybe, just maybe, this could be happening.

On the DVD: My Little Eye two-disc set is a genuinely innovative achievement. Disc 2 offers the standard DVD special features, including a 30-minute making of featurette, which is beautifully filmed. However, it's Disc 1 which has the real gem. Along with a well transferred film (16:9, Dolby 5.1 sound) and informative director's commentary, there is also the option to view the film in "Interactive Browser Mode". What this means is that once you've entered the hidden code you are able to watch as if you are a pay-per-view customer on the internet, with the ability to view audition tapes and archives (six deleted scenes of them in the first few months), eavesdrop into conversations, and choose different cameras for certain scenes. The result is a truly interactive experience that definitely increases the fear factor. --Nikki Disney

Customer Reviews:

How to spot a modern British film: it's full of Americans and shot in Canada.......2007-12-22

Considering how woefully misconceived his follow-up Trauma was, it's a surprise to find that Marc Evans' debut, My Little Eye, is actually a pretty good and considerable less self-indulgent little horror that puts a relatively new spin on the Old Dark House/Ten Little Indians genre without doing too much new with it. A slasher movie with a Big Brother spin, the first half-hour is almost as tediously underwhelming as any 'reality' show: while it doesn't entirely convince us that these characters have spent nearly six months living on each other's nerves, it does threaten to try our patience. Yet it gradually becomes more interesting as a series of incidents make the ill-matched housemates wonder whether the internet show's producers are trying to scare them out of a million dollar prize or if there's something much more sinister behind the almost impossible to find and curiously unadvertised website...

Around the 70-minute mark there are no real surprises, merely efficient execution, and there is one truly insulting moment of oh-there-may-be-a-killer-in-the-house but-I-think-I'll-sit-down-and-play-this-video-game that's-been-conveniently-left-on with-my-back-turned-to-the-whole-room stupidity that lets it down, but even if the ending is predictable it's just a little bit nastier than expected. Good extras, though the hidden code needed to unlock them is an unnecessary gimmick.

Unoriginal but Effective Horror.......2007-04-30

Several stereotypical American teenagers respond to an online ad to spend a few months living together in a large house full of cameras in the middle of nowhere. If no-one leaves they will recieve $1,000,000 and fame.

My Little Eye will certainly recieve no prizes for originality but it is definately a very effective and overlooked horror gem. As the weeks go by with no sign of or any contact with 'the company' the teens start to look forward to leaving the house. Trouble is, they have no idea where it is, they are snowed in, the electricity has been cut and their food deliveries have been replaced with boxes of bricks. Not only that but each contestant has skeletons in their closets that the company appears to have gone to great lengths to research and exploit. When a stranger turns up claiming to be lost the group quiz him about their fame on the outside. When he tells them he has no idea who they are it begins to occur to them that maybe all is not as it seems.

The house itself and its location are a great set for a horror. Creepy, deserted and lonely, a bit like the hotel in The Shining. As realisation dawns that there is no prize money or indeed a gameshow, the tension becomes unbearable. My Little Eye is mostly let down by an unoriginal script and some poor acting. Also the characters are the typical Big Brother contestants we all know and hate so it's difficult to like them. That said, there are some great shocks and scares in this superior horror.

Like This? Try: The Blair Witch Project

The best horror movie of the millenium so far........2007-01-22

My Little Eye is a much overlooked gem of the horror genre, it blazes with originality, atmosphere, dark wit and towards the final act some genuine scares which coming from horror movies in this day an age is a rarity. The whole cast play their parts of generic, attractive and varying in personality twenty-somethings very well, in particular Kris Lemche in the role of Rex who gets all of the best lines and is the only genuinely interesting one of the bunch.
But the film does leave a lot of mystery throughout and if given the right amount of patience and attention will be very much enjoyed. It's slow paced but keeps you watching just with the original camerawork and smart but believable dialogue.
It's most definitely worth picking up even if horror isn't your thing as it's not in your face gore, it has more brains than that.

Nice idea, bad execution.......2006-10-26

Now, those with a penchance for reality shows will see where this is coming from. It has attempted to take Big Brother and change it into a horror come whodunnit.
A number of societies misfits (very like Big Brother then) are lured to a gothic mansion, rigged with cameras, under some shabby pretext. It is not long before rather creepy things begin to occur, and eventually people start to die, and they come to the conclusion it must be one among them (wow, what an amazing flight of fancy). The body count rises, and eventually the killer is revealed.
The acting really lets it down, and at times is cringingly bad. Save for the original idea, the plot is turgid and fails to hold the interest. It just plods from one 'scary' event to another, the characterisation is feeble. The film is kind of dark, but it serves only to depress rather than give it that film noir feel.
The script does little to aid the acting, and although it is packed with those jump moments akin to scream, you will probably remain unmoved. Basically, don't watch this. There are so many better horror films out there.

ok nothing special.......2006-08-24

I did not find this film particularly scary. It lacked any real storyline. If your looking for a hardcore horror-this film won't do it for you! Overall it was ok but nothing to write home about

DVD:

DVD List

DVD